Walmart Store Manager Reveals Huge Annual Salary He Can Earn

• Walmart Executives Incentivize Their Managers to Stay and Work Hard
• Higher salaries and better working conditions help the company retain talent

A dedicated store manager at a Dallas-area Walmart has revealed the staggering amount he’s allowed to take home each year.

Greg Harden, who has worked as a Walmart store manager for more than a decade, said he could make up to $530,000 this year.

“I almost passed out when I found out,” he told Bloomberg.

After suffering from high management turnover, Walmart overhauled its compensation system in a desperate move to retain top-level employees.

Under the new remuneration system, managers can supplement their base salary with shares and bonuses.

Their salaries went from $117,000 a year to $128,000 a year. And managers will be entitled to receive shares worth up to $20,000.

Walmart has also refined its calculation to determine a manager’s bonus. Under the new system, bonuses largely depend on store performance.

“If you meet all goals, your bonus could reach 200% of your base salary,” Cedric Clark, Walmart’s executive vice president of store operations, said in a memo seen by Bloomberg.

So far, the new compensation plan appears to be working for Walmart. According to Clark, job retention has improved and turnover rates have decreased.

He also noted that engagement scores that gauge managers’ attitudes toward work have increased.

Data from Revelio Labs Inc., a human resources analytics company, supports Clark’s assertion to some extent.

According to Revelio, over the past year, Walmart’s annual attrition rate fell about two percentage points to about 21 percent.

Managers say they see a difference in the quality of the work environment.

“It’s night and day,” Harden said.

Walmart decided to revamp its company culture after it became clear that its competitors had a significant advantage when it came to retaining highly qualified managers.

Just a few years ago, Walmart’s executive exodus was nearly double that of other giant retailers like Home Depot and Target.

In the late 2010s, Walmart reduced the number of its managers and imposed heavier workloads and longer hours on those who remained.

Concerned about the working conditions of its hourly workers, the retail giant invested billions to raise wages but neglected to pay much attention to management.

Outdated technology was another headache for managers, who were often frustrated by the bugs they encountered while trying to use their technology.

Oscar Romero, manager of a Walmart in Calexico, Calif., where he oversees a staff of 550, said his day begins with 40 minutes of paperwork.

“I would have to go through reports to look at my sales. If I wanted to look at the inventory, I would have to look at another report.

In addition to improved management systems, managers also receive better benefits, including telehealth and doula services.

Walmart executives are being asked to do a lot of work, according to Bloomberg.

The retailer’s supercenters average about 178,000 square feet, tens of thousands of square feet larger than Costco and Target stores. And they offer more services supervised by managers.

Auto body shops and pharmacies are grouped under certain managers and many stores have mini-warehouses in the back where hundreds of pallets of product are moved every day.

Bloomberg reported that one manager estimates he sells a truckload of dog food every day of the week.

Harden oversees some 400 employees and more than $100 million in sales each year at one of the largest Walmarts in the Dallas area.

He arrives at work around 7 a.m. to receive feedback from the night shift and check on the races.

On an average day, Harden walks up to six miles through his store, checking to make sure shelves are stocked, price tags are visible and deliveries are going smoothly.

He says he might also speak to up to 200 people in his day.

Before the recent top-down changes, he said he arrived at work at 5 a.m. and worked six days a week.

Since 2021, Walmart executives have listened carefully to complaints filed by store managers. “If we make it the best place to work, they will in turn take care of the customer,” said Cedric Clark, the company’s store operations manager.

Improving employees’ lives will ultimately boost store sales, which is what Clark and his colleagues believe and are seeing happen in real time.

Unlike some of its competitors, Walmart has seen continued sales growth since the pandemic began four years ago.

As inflation levels decimate the financial security of middle-class families across the country, Walmart’s low prices and frequent deals have become extremely attractive. The company plans to open even more supercenters, each of which needs a new manager.